2017 South China Historical Road Orienteering Championship Opens in Taishan

2017-05-26 上午 10:47 来源：iof

The first stop of 2017 South China Historical Road Orienteering Championship kicked off on May 23-24.

Attended guts included provincial and municipal officials such as Zhao Kun, Deputy Secretary General of Guangdong Province, Liu Xiao, Deputy Director of Aeroradio Model Sports Administration Center of General Administration of Sports, and Zhao Shaoming, Deputy Director of Sports Bureau of Guangdong Province. Championship ambassador and celebrity basketball player Yi Jianlian was also invited at the opening ceremony. Historical Roads culture was perfectly blended with modern orienteering event in temperate summer breeze, forming a unique landscape in this well-noted hometown of the overseas Chinese.

The Championship was comprised of foot orienteering and mountain bike orienteering events where the foot orienteering was divided into Professional Open Team,Professional Elite Team, Experience Tea and the Overseas Remittance Descendant Team.

Nearly 10,000 athletes, enthusiasts, villagers and folks were attracted in this the events. Three cultural events were also launched at the same period, including the inauguration of the Museum of Overseas Remittance, Memorial Plaza of Overseas Remittance, and the release of UNESCO Memory of World-Taishan Overseas Archive.Other activities included South China Historical Road Cultural Tour-Taishan Haikoubu Carnival, volleyball matches, martial art performance, overseas remittance descendant forum, agricultural products fair and photography exhibition.

ABOUT TAISHAN

Choosing Taishan as first of the ten stops of 2017 South China Historical Road Orienteering Championship is a testimony of recognition and trust by the People’s Government of Guangdong and the Champion Committee.Taishan differs not only for its premium geographic environment for international orienteering, but also for its unique overseas Chinese cultural elements.

Taishan is situated south-central of Guangdong Province and southwest of the Pearl River Delta, bordering the South China Sea, with close access to Hong Kong and Macau. Taishan covers a land area of 3,286 km2 and a sea area of 2,717 km2. It has a registered population of 982,800 and a permanent population of 950,700. Taishan is known for its energy industry, volleyball sports, folk opera and folk arts and finest long grain rice. It is awarded one of the first National All-for-One Tourism Demonstration Zones in 2016. In the late 19th century, ancestors from Taishan went overseas for a better living, and won a reputation of self-reliance, patriotism and open-mindedness through their diligence and entrepreneurship. Epical legends and touching stories are engraved in the glorious chapter in the history of the overseas Chinese.

As one of the event sites of the Championship, the Mei’s Grand Courtyard and Haikoubu are the best testimonies of that glorious legacy. The Mei’s Grand Courtyard is home to Tingjiangxu, an architectural complex built by local overseas Chinese and theirs family defendants in 1931. It covers a land of 13 acres with 108 two or three-storey arcade buildings, all built in a rectangular arrangement in uniform rows. There is a 6.5 acre of open market space for local vendors. The whole complex is like a small castle town itself, and got its name because more than half of its shareholders are from the Mei’s clan.

Haikoubu is hailed as the “first port where the Cantonese go overseas” and one of the “crucial nodes on the Maritime Silk Road”. This has long been an overseas transit point for folks from Taishan and the Sze Yup region. Overseas remittance industry was well developed as a result. Overseas Remittance is a unique historical imprint and symbol of Haikoubu. In June 2013, the Overseas Remittance Archive was listed in the Memory of World by UNESCO. It is fair to say that the two sites are the crown jewels of the overseas Chinese culture, and paragons among overseas Chinese hometowns in China.

Hosting such event Taishan is also a good reminiscence of the history of the overseas Chinese by the People’s Government of Guangdong and the Committee, with deep gratitude and respect to all the patriotic overseas compatriots.

Acknowledgment:

The Championship’s success relied on a joint effort by numerous provincial departments and authorities. Acknowledgments to the following agencies:

Sponsors:

Aeroradio Model Sports Administration Center of General Administration of Sports

Sports Bureau of Guangdong Province

Advisory Authorities from Guangdong Province:

Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

CPC Provincial Rural Work Office,Economic & Information Commission

Department of Education

Department of Environmental Protection

Water Resources Department,

Department of Culture